This invention relates to highway barriers, and in particular to a transporter for moving a length of interconnected highway barriers along a roadway.
Highway barriers are commonly used to form temporary walls between two lines of traffic or between a line of traffic and a construction zone.
One commonly used highway barrier is formed of concrete and is provided with lugs at each end that allow adjacent barriers to be linked together. When used to protect a construction site, it is often necessary to move such barriers along the length of a roadway as a construction crew advances from one highway section to the next.
One effective highway barrier is described in Quittner U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,225. This barrier has a T-shaped upper end which is used to lift the barrier, as for example in shifting the barrier from one lane to a next adjacent lane. Note in particular the barrier transfer device shown in Quittner '225, which includes an S-shaped conveyor that operates to lift T-shaped barriers, move them laterally to a next adjacent lane, and then deposit the barriers in a new position. This approach has been found to be an extremely efficient method for transferring barriers to allow lane reversal.
However, the problems encountered in transporting barriers longitudinally along a roadway are somewhat different than those encountered in shifting barriers laterally across a roadway. One prior art approach to transporting barriers longitudinally along a roadway is to load the barriers onto a truck and to simply drive the truck along the roadway to the new location. This approach provides the disadvantage that the truck occupies a lane of traffic during loading and transporting operations, and thus interferes with normal traffic flow. Furthermore, the time and manpower required to move the barriers onto and off of the truck may be excessive in many applications.
A second approach of the prior art is to use a transfer device such that shown in Quittner '225 to transport a length of barriers to the new location. This approach reduces the manpower required to load and unload barriers as compared with the use of trucks described above. Booth U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,954 also describes an apparatus for moving a traffic barrier, in which a length of barriers is supported inside a moving apparatus. The transfer devices of Quittner '225 and Booth have been designed primarily to transfer barriers laterally, and have not been optimized to transport barriers longitudinally to a new location.
Another approach to the transportation of barriers along a roadway is disclosed in Burgett U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,332. The Burgett approach is to include wheeled lifting units between adjacent barriers as an integral part of the length of barriers. These wheeled lifting units can be used to raise the barriers for towing. This approach substantially complicates the barriers, because the wheeled lifting units are integrated into the line of barriers.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for efficiently transporting barriers longitudinally along a roadway, without substantially obstructing a traffic lane.
It is a further object to this invention to avoid increasing the cost of the barriers, and in particular to avoid the need for wheeled or lifting units to be incorporated into the barrier themselves.